I am not a big fan of Michael Jackson but did like him a lot when I was like 6 yrs old. I remember listening to Billie Jean and danced my ass off. His bizarre behavior didn't really bother me. All I know is he was a GREAT performer. Rest in peace MJ
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Journey to the West
(Colorado - CO, Wyoming - WY, South Dakota - SD, Montana - MT, Idaho - ID, Utah - UT)Day 1 - Denver (CO)
Ok, I am going to do something I have never done before – joining a Chinese organized tour. I am going to spend seven days with a tour bus full of Chinese people while go to the western national parks. The idea sounds scary but hey it’s cheap. The first day of the journey begins in Denver. My flight flew in Denver at 11am. When I got the baggage claim area, I saw this tour guide name Larry folding a typical yellow Chinese tour flag with the company logo on it. After reporting to him, I looked around. I saw surrounded with all Chinese people. Most of them are old people with families, all speaking Chinese. Being in the US for almost 10 years, I have to admit that I am more comfortable being around with English speakers. My first thought was “what I brought myself into!!” At about 11.30 the tour guide began to introduce himself. I was actually pretty impressed with the way he talks. Everything that he said, he said it in English and Mandarin. So there’s no confusion. Our first stop was the Red Rock Amphitheater. I was there like 3 weeks ago but this time the weather was nicer. Then we went to the state capital and the 16 St mall. We were supposed to go to the Coors Beer brewery but it got cancelled because the brewery cancelled the tour about a month ago. I was pretty disappointed because that was the only thing I didn’t go see on my last trip to Denver 3 weeks ago. Later we went to this Chinese buffet restaurant for dinner. On the way back to the hotel it rain raining hail. We were actually caught in the middle to a hail storm. As Denver is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the weather here can be pretty dramatic and can change every hour. We got back at the hotel at 6pm (hotel VQ). It’s a shithole of course. My room smells pee. I opened the window to let the air out for about an hour for now and it still smells. I guess you paid for what you get for. Tomorrow is going to be a long day and I am starting to get a bit excited!!!
Day 2 – Cheyenne (WY), Crazy Horse (SD), Mt Rushmore (SD), Deadwood (SD)
It 6 am and the sun is already out. Our trip begins at 7.15 am. The first stop is Cheyenne. Cheyenne is the state capitol of Wyoming. Some capital that is. It’s pretty small and the entire town is so quite and dead (maybe because it was a Sunday) I was told by Larry that Wyoming’s nickname is call the Equality state. It’s because Wyoming is the first state the allowed women to vote. After a brief stop at Cheyenne, we headed to Crazy Horse. On the way, we stopped by a small town called Lusk. I had hotdogs there. It was a nice day. The weather’s perfect. We later arrived at Crazy Horse at around 3.30. The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in the form of Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance.The memorial consists of the mountain carving (monument), the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain on land considered sacr
ed by some Native Americans, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 8 miles (13 km) away from Mount Rushmore.The sculpture's final dimensions are pla
nned to be 641 feet (195 m) wide and 563 feet (172 m) high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet (27 m) high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) high.The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is still far from completion If finished, it will be the world's largest statue. I didn’t know the existence of this place until actually today. I must say I learn something already in this trip. After the crazy horse, we headed to the highlight of the day – Mt Rushmore. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Keystone, South Dakota, is 
a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941), located within the United States Presidential Memorial that represents the fi
rst 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (left to right): George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres (5.17 km2) and is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level. My friend had once told me that the drive to Mt Rushmore is boring because there’s nothing but prairi
e land. But I think it’s pretty. It’s vast and spiritual for me. After spending 1 hr at the park, we went to Deadwood. Deadwood is a cute little town.
It reminds me of Bisbee, AZ. I was surprised to find that casinos are everywhere, including our hotel. We stayed at the Franklin Hotel. I love that hotel. It’s over 100 yrs old. It really gives a local flavor. The room is old. The on/off switch is something that I have never seen before. The sink is hugh. I feel like I am back on time. I had dinner at this restaurant/saloon that is fabous for steak. I didn’t have steak. I had rocky mountain oysters and buffalo burger. Soooo good. 
Day 3 – Devils Tower (WY), Billings (MT)
Woke up at 6. check out and had breakfast at the hotel (the hotel offers free continental breakfast at the casino area). Then we are on the way to Devil’s Tower. When we are approaching the tower, you can see the monument sticking out – out of nowhere. Devils Tower (Lakota: Mato Tipila, which means “Bear Tower”) is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook Count
y, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level. According to the Indian folkstory, once there were 3 girls picking wild berries when suddenly a bear started to a
ttack them. Frightened, they ran to a tree and climbed up. As the bear was climbing the tree, the girls were crying for help. The gods heard the girl’s cry for help and immediately raised the tree higher and higher so that the bear couldn’t reach the girls. As the tree grew higher, the bear climbed higher. When the bear climbed, it
left its claw marks which give the claw mark like on the tower today. There is a trail that goes around tower. It’s a pretty easy hike. I walked around it. It was a nice day. Also, I was told that June is the holy month for the Indians. The tower is a holy site for the Indians and there is a voluntary no climbing for a month to respect the Indians. After that we headed to the western museum. Its located on MT. it’s an open museum that shows how the people lived there 100 yrs ago. After a long day, we finally arrived at Billings; MT. there’s a restaurant nearby the hotel and is famous for its foil wrapped beef. It is so good. The hot
el has a pool but i forgot to bring my swimming pants. I went running at the treadmill but only managed to run 2 miles. Must have been the high elevation that makes running uncomfortable. I was literally out of breath.
Woke up at 6.15. Got ready and headed to the lobby to check out. Everyone got a free bag of continental breakfast. I was told by the tour guide that they bag the breakfast because a lot of Asian tourists were out of control. They would stock the breakfast in the bags. That’s so embarrassing. Anyway, we left Billings and headed to the Yellowstone. The guy sitting beside me is so annoying. His breath smells like dead fish and completely rude. Since I am sitting by the window, whenever he wants to take pics he would lean over and literally point the camera in front of my face, fuckhead.We arrived at Yellow Stone around 11 via the north entrance. Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872, is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho.
The park was the first
of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular fea
tures in the park. The park is also a super volcano. The last eruption was probably 600,000 yrs ago. At the entrance there’s an Arch that send an important message “FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE” The Yellowstone is the first National Park in the world. First stop Mammoth Cave. My first geological site experience. Then we headed to the Grand Falls. My gosh it is so pretty. Later headed to Old fait
hful geyser. Old faithful geyser is not the probably the most famous geyser because it erupts approximately every 40 minute thus the name old faithful. On the way to out motel, we saw a huge herd of buffalo resting on the ground. We spend the night 
in the west entrance, MT. There were so many funny. mosquitoes and they are big!!! Had dinner at this steak restaurant. Had buffalo steak. It was good. The motel looks like a dumpsite but I kinda like. It reminds of a motel that I stayed in Flagstaff 3 yrs ago; the layout of the room looks similar. And even the shower is the same (I remember it felt so good with the high water pressure after a long). How funny.
Day 5 – Yellowstone National Park (WY, MT, ID), Grand Teton National Park (WY), Jackson Hole (WY), Bear World (ID), Salt Lake City (UT)
Morning call at 6.15.Leave the motel at 7.15. Then we headed back to Yellowstone.
Went to West Thumb Geyser Basin. The West Thumb Geyser Basin is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. The heat source of the thermal 
features in this location is thought to be relatively close to the surface, only 10,000 feet (3,000 m) down. The lake is the highest in the US. The next stop is Grand Teton NP. It’s located just right outside of the Yellowstone. The bus stopped at the Grand Teton Lodge for lunch. I had buffalo burger again. It was cloudy but we were still able to see the mountains. Larry told us that the mountains used for “PARAMOUNT” logo is actually the Grand Teton mountains. Btw TETON means BREAST in French. Whoever n
amed these mountains TETONS must be some horny frenchies. We di
Today is going to be a long day. Our first stop is the State Capitol Building. It’s pretty.
Since it’s located on top of the hill overlooking the city, it’s as beautiful at the DC capitol building. The dome is covered in copper because copper is Utah’s major miner
al. Later on we went to the Mormon Temple Square. Temple Square is the Headquarter for Mormons. I feel really privileged to be able to visit this holy site. Once we arrived we were welcomed by the Mormon sisters that later gave us a tour of the temple. I finally got to visit the Dome that I once watch on the travel channel. It is said that if you drop a needle at the front of the dome, u can actually hear it all the way at the back of the dome. After the temple, we went to the Great Salt Lake. It’s huge. The salinity of the water is 13 times more than sea water. If you swim in the lake, you will float. After the lake, we wen
t to the Copper Mine. The mine is one of the largest on the world. It is so huge that you can see it from space. After that we drove almost 4 hours south to the highlight of the day –Arched National Park. It’s really beautiful 
there. Kinda of reminds me of the monument valley. On the way out, we saw 2 rainbows at the same time. I have never seen 2 rainbows at the same time before. It was really pretty. Of course the crowd was goin crazy snapping pic in the bus. After a long day, we finally arrived at out hotel in Grand Junction, CO at 9.30pm!!
Day 7 – Glenwood Spring (CO), Denver (CO), HOME ..
y, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level. According to the Indian folkstory, once there were 3 girls picking wild berries when suddenly a bear started to a
ttack them. Frightened, they ran to a tree and climbed up. As the bear was climbing the tree, the girls were crying for help. The gods heard the girl’s cry for help and immediately raised the tree higher and higher so that the bear couldn’t reach the girls. As the tree grew higher, the bear climbed higher. When the bear climbed, it
left its claw marks which give the claw mark like on the tower today. There is a trail that goes around tower. It’s a pretty easy hike. I walked around it. It was a nice day. Also, I was told that June is the holy month for the Indians. The tower is a holy site for the Indians and there is a voluntary no climbing for a month to respect the Indians. After that we headed to the western museum. Its located on MT. it’s an open museum that shows how the people lived there 100 yrs ago. After a long day, we finally arrived at Billings; MT. there’s a restaurant nearby the hotel and is famous for its foil wrapped beef. It is so good. The hot
el has a pool but i forgot to bring my swimming pants. I went running at the treadmill but only managed to run 2 miles. Must have been the high elevation that makes running uncomfortable. I was literally out of breath.Day 4 – Yellowstone National Park (MT, WY, ID)
Woke up at 6.15. Got ready and headed to the lobby to check out. Everyone got a free bag of continental breakfast. I was told by the tour guide that they bag the breakfast because a lot of Asian tourists were out of control. They would stock the breakfast in the bags. That’s so embarrassing. Anyway, we left Billings and headed to the Yellowstone. The guy sitting beside me is so annoying. His breath smells like dead fish and completely rude. Since I am sitting by the window, whenever he wants to take pics he would lean over and literally point the camera in front of my face, fuckhead.We arrived at Yellow Stone around 11 via the north entrance. Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872, is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho.
The park was the first
of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular fea
tures in the park. The park is also a super volcano. The last eruption was probably 600,000 yrs ago. At the entrance there’s an Arch that send an important message “FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE” The Yellowstone is the first National Park in the world. First stop Mammoth Cave. My first geological site experience. Then we headed to the Grand Falls. My gosh it is so pretty. Later headed to Old fait
hful geyser. Old faithful geyser is not the probably the most famous geyser because it erupts approximately every 40 minute thus the name old faithful. On the way to out motel, we saw a huge herd of buffalo resting on the ground. We spend the night 
in the west entrance, MT. There were so many funny. mosquitoes and they are big!!! Had dinner at this steak restaurant. Had buffalo steak. It was good. The motel looks like a dumpsite but I kinda like. It reminds of a motel that I stayed in Flagstaff 3 yrs ago; the layout of the room looks similar. And even the shower is the same (I remember it felt so good with the high water pressure after a long). How funny.
Day 5 – Yellowstone National Park (WY, MT, ID), Grand Teton National Park (WY), Jackson Hole (WY), Bear World (ID), Salt Lake City (UT)
Morning call at 6.15.Leave the motel at 7.15. Then we headed back to Yellowstone.
Went to West Thumb Geyser Basin. The West Thumb Geyser Basin is the largest geyser basin on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. The heat source of the thermal 
features in this location is thought to be relatively close to the surface, only 10,000 feet (3,000 m) down. The lake is the highest in the US. The next stop is Grand Teton NP. It’s located just right outside of the Yellowstone. The bus stopped at the Grand Teton Lodge for lunch. I had buffalo burger again. It was cloudy but we were still able to see the mountains. Larry told us that the mountains used for “PARAMOUNT” logo is actually the Grand Teton mountains. Btw TETON means BREAST in French. Whoever n
amed these mountains TETONS must be some horny frenchies. We didn’t really go in to the park. We literally just drove by along it. The mountains look huge and beautiful as we approached it. And unfortunately, my camera battery died. I was so pissed!!! Later on, we stopped at Jackson, Jackson is a small cowboy town. It’s frequent visitor include Harrison Ford who apparently owns a ranch at that area. After Jackson, we drove cross the mountains on the way to IDAHO. Halfway, we stopped at this Yellowstone
be
ar refuge camp. For anyone who didn’t see bears in yellowst one, this place could be a good chance for you. There are more than 10 bears roaming freely around the park. It’s soft of like a safari tour thing. After the park we are heading to Utah. When we approached, we stopped by a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I was told by Larry that I have to try the soup there. Out of curiosity, I ask him what kind of it is. He told me its bear meat soup. It tastes good. We finally got to S alt Lake City at around 8.30. What a long day …
ar refuge camp. For anyone who didn’t see bears in yellowst one, this place could be a good chance for you. There are more than 10 bears roaming freely around the park. It’s soft of like a safari tour thing. After the park we are heading to Utah. When we approached, we stopped by a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I was told by Larry that I have to try the soup there. Out of curiosity, I ask him what kind of it is. He told me its bear meat soup. It tastes good. We finally got to S alt Lake City at around 8.30. What a long day …Day 6 – Salt Lake City (UT), Mormon Temple Square (UT), Great Salt Lake (UT), Kennecott Utah Copper Bingham Canyon Mine (UT), Arches National Park (UT), Grand Junction (CO)
Today is going to be a long day. Our first stop is the State Capitol Building. It’s pretty.
Since it’s located on top of the hill overlooking the city, it’s as beautiful at the DC capitol building. The dome is covered in copper because copper is Utah’s major miner
al. Later on we went to the Mormon Temple Square. Temple Square is the Headquarter for Mormons. I feel really privileged to be able to visit this holy site. Once we arrived we were welcomed by the Mormon sisters that later gave us a tour of the temple. I finally got to visit the Dome that I once watch on the travel channel. It is said that if you drop a needle at the front of the dome, u can actually hear it all the way at the back of the dome. After the temple, we went to the Great Salt Lake. It’s huge. The salinity of the water is 13 times more than sea water. If you swim in the lake, you will float. After the lake, we wen
t to the Copper Mine. The mine is one of the largest on the world. It is so huge that you can see it from space. After that we drove almost 4 hours south to the highlight of the day –Arched National Park. It’s really beautiful 
there. Kinda of reminds me of the monument valley. On the way out, we saw 2 rainbows at the same time. I have never seen 2 rainbows at the same time before. It was really pretty. Of course the crowd was goin crazy snapping pic in the bus. After a long day, we finally arrived at out hotel in Grand Junction, CO at 9.30pm!!
Day 7 – Glenwood Spring (CO), Denver (CO), HOME ..
It’s an easy day. Our first stop is the Glenwood Hot Spring. I have never been to a hot spring
before so that was my
first experience. After 6 days of travelling, it feels pretty good dipping in a hot spring. it was relaxing. After that we drove into the rocky mountain. The landscape changes dramatically. The highway is so pretty that it looks like a wonderland. We stopped by at Vail for lunch. Vail is ski resort town that my boss, Mark Schneider used to work there. He had told me stories about how Vail looks like a winter wonderland during winter times. At around 3am, we finally arrived at Denver airport. At the time, Larry told us that one of the passengers is actually a NOBEL PRIZE WINNER
(the only Caucasian in the tour) for some chemistry work. Wow. What a surprise. That announcement made the crowd went wild and suddenly everybody wants to take pic with him. He was like a rock for 10 minutes. So after 7 days, I really enjoy this t
rip, in fact I miss the company of the other passengers. Even though I do not know them, I guess because we were on the same bus for seven days, there’s some connection there. I would definitely do this again. Because I was traveling by myself, this trip is pretty spiritual for me for some reason. All I know it, I will do this again pretty soon.
before so that was my
first experience. After 6 days of travelling, it feels pretty good dipping in a hot spring. it was relaxing. After that we drove into the rocky mountain. The landscape changes dramatically. The highway is so pretty that it looks like a wonderland. We stopped by at Vail for lunch. Vail is ski resort town that my boss, Mark Schneider used to work there. He had told me stories about how Vail looks like a winter wonderland during winter times. At around 3am, we finally arrived at Denver airport. At the time, Larry told us that one of the passengers is actually a NOBEL PRIZE WINNER
(the only Caucasian in the tour) for some chemistry work. Wow. What a surprise. That announcement made the crowd went wild and suddenly everybody wants to take pic with him. He was like a rock for 10 minutes. So after 7 days, I really enjoy this t
rip, in fact I miss the company of the other passengers. Even though I do not know them, I guess because we were on the same bus for seven days, there’s some connection there. I would definitely do this again. Because I was traveling by myself, this trip is pretty spiritual for me for some reason. All I know it, I will do this again pretty soon.
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